


Five Ways In Which Adam And Tommy Didn't Come Out As A Couple (And The One Way They Did)

by DarchangelSkye



Category: Adam Lambert (Musician), American Idol RPF, Glam Rock RPF, Music RPF, Real Person Fiction, Tommy Ratliff (Musician)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Canon Queer Character, Coming Out, Concerts, Cross-Posted on LiveJournal, Family, Interviews, M/M, Paparazzi, Songwriting, Valentine's Day, Wordcount: 100-2.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-08-14
Updated: 2010-08-14
Packaged: 2017-10-11 02:13:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/107229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarchangelSkye/pseuds/DarchangelSkye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin">Exactly What It Says On The Tin</a> :)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Ways In Which Adam And Tommy Didn't Come Out As A Couple (And The One Way They Did)

I.  
MTV has this cute idea one February for its Valentine special, inviting any star who wanted to give a live webcam message to their chosen loved one. Katy Perry flashed her new enormous ring and gushed about Russell, Britney rambled for a minute or so while calling Jayden and Sean her "little cupids," Beiber proclaimed all his fans to be his valentines, that kind of thing. Given how many people were watching on their TVs and online, it seemed to be a brilliant as well as cute idea.

When it was Tommy's turn and he appeared on camera, there was a brief burst of confusion permanently recorded on message boards and Twitter. _Waitasec, he's only a backing musician, not a star like Adam. What's he doing here?_

But the confusion was swiftly replaced by the brief crash of said sites as soon as Tommy spoke up:

"I love you, babyboy, you're my everything. Happy Valentine's Day, Adam."

Publicity stunt or not (as some critics were wont to think), nobody could deny the glow of love in Tommy's eyes.

II.  
Management had to bribe a hell of a lot of people not to say anything until a few days before the issue hit the newsstands. _The Advocate_ wasn't as regarded by the general public as gospel as much as _People_ (or god forbid, _US Weekly_), but an article about Adam and Tommy opening up for the first time about their relationship and what they wanted for the LGBT community was plenty buzz worthy.

Even the cover shot would later be remembered as one of the most iconic photos of the year: minimal makeup, simple clothes, Adam leaning against a wall with one hand gently threaded in Tommy's hair (while the other man gave the camera an almost-shy smile) and the other cupping his back as if to shield him against the critical world.

The first question everyone asked them for months on end afterwards was if they had any regrets about the article. Despite all the insane letters and such, they truthfully had to say no.

"Nobody should ever regret being honest," Adam would say, something he knew all too well.

III.  
Of all the things Adam had awoken to hear Tommy say, "Shitshitshit" was definitely a new one. He sat up in the bed to see Tommy already upright with the laptop perched on his knees. The phone on the dresser was buzzing wildly yet ignored for some reason... He rubbed his eyes. "What's wrong, glitterbaby?"

Tommy whipped his head around, eyes wild. "We got busted. Fuckin' TMZ."

That got Adam's attention. He grabbed the computer to see the type of picture that could only be achieved by a telephoto lens. He vaguely remembered that parking lot from Atlanta a couple weeks ago, and _definitely_ remembered giving Tommy that kiss when it appeared traffic was empty. Looks like they were wrong about that.

"...hoo boy."

"Don't hafta be a rocket scientist to guess those calls are everybody flippin' out!" Tommy gestured to the dresser.

"Guess we can't lie and say we were practicing for Fever," Adam lowered his head. He figured this day would be coming sooner or later, but that was just the way of life for when the day came, you had no idea what to do.

Tommy stayed silent for a long moment, and the attitude in his eyes softened from frazzled to concerned. "I'm willing to tell the truth if you are, Adam. I promised I'd be here for you."

Adam had no words for how grateful he was to hear that. He nodded. "We can do a simple statement for now. Lemme call Liz," he said and reached for the phone.

His hand wasn't as shaky as he believed it would be.

IV.  
Tommy felt his heart beating so loudly he almost couldn't hear the music or the crowd. It wasn't the normal show-fuelled adrenaline, but something more intense altogether. He and Adam had talked it out, before the show, that during the band introductions they would officially make their presence as a couple known.

It shouldn't've been a big deal on the one hand, half the fans already thought they were dating (or at least having rigorous amounts of sex). But what about the ones who wouldn't want to believe such a thing, the ones who still kept some seed of prejudice inside them? And it wasn't just the fans, there was traditional media, society, the Joe Bigots in every city. Money, careers, reputations- depending on how crazy people could be, _lives_ could be at stake. Was the risk actually worth the honesty?

They'd agreed it would be, but Tommy still had that inkling of doubt.

Adam had just finished his intro for Cam, and was now striding towards Tommy with the biggest and most confident smile on his face.

"And you all know this fellow..." he reached for the bassist's hand.

And Tommy squeezed back.

V.  
Adam may have been in show business a bit longer than Tommy had, but he had to admit with the gazillion band credits his friend had picked up, he was a much better songwriter. Fortunately he also exhibited a lot of patience.

It had been Tommy's idea in the first place- "Let's say it with a song," had been his exact words, and within all his excitement Adam had considered it the best idea ever. However, somewhere along the line when there were notebooks and sheet music gathered around them in growing piles, he also considered the possibility that Tommy was a bigger perfectionist than he'd ever assumed.

The guitar left never Tommy's hands during these sessions as he fiddled with one chord change after another, his face often screwing up in the frustration Adam would consider adorable if not for the situation at hand. He'd look down to the scribbled lyrics, bite his lip, and maybe comment that was a good rhyme scheme or that metaphor was unnecessary. Adam wasn't insulted at all. Tommy knew what he was doing.

The first time they practiced the song all the way through, Tommy playing the 1-2-3-4 rhythm while Adam's voice drifted away from his body to the ceiling, something clicked within the both of them that hey, this was pretty good, this was the best idea. As the backing music was added to it eventually, the tune grew organically into something beautiful, and they both felt that it was as right and good as their feelings for each other.

The happy response the first time it was played live during a radio interview certainly didn't hurt, either.

~*~  
I.  
Dia not-so-secretly considered Adam to be a part of the family. She knew Ron had adored him, and Lisa always enjoyed hearing tales from the road whenever the whole family was in the same place.

She also knew that Adam made her son happy in a manner she couldn't quite put her finger on. Nobody else made Tommy smile the way Adam did, that simple but bright smile where his teeth were showing and it didn't look forced at all. Nobody else made Tommy as relaxed as Adam did, where he'd gesture and talk freely without that hint of fear in his voice that he was going to say something stupid and be judged for it. And nobody else certainly made Tommy as comfortable with his appearance as Adam did, compared to the old days when he had to forgo the theatrical makeup and clothes that would occasionally take up space in his closets so he could fit in with whatever band he was playing with at the time.

Whatever the case was, if her little boy was happy, then Dia was certainly happy. Which was why it didn't worry her this time when they were both over, coming into the living room where she had just settled with a movie.

"Mom?" Tommy had asked with that special smile. "There's something we'd like to tell you."


End file.
